| Introduction to Indian Politics

This course will introduce students to Indian politics since the time of Independence till the contemporary moment. India has had a unique and tumultuous journey into democracy in the last 75 odd years which deserve to be looked into. Following India’s independence, the adoption of universal suffrage and a democratic Constitution was seen as a bold experiment. Despite enduring challenges, including social and economic inequalities, Indian democracy has managed to persist, adapt, and evolve, but has also faced new and recurring pressures. While this course would be chronologically ordered, it would also focus on a few core constituent assembly debates, institution building, key policies and electoral processes and how they have evolved over time.

Secondly, the course provides a detailed understanding of the formal institutional structure of the Indian state and democracy-legislature, executive, and judiciary. The course will examine how these institutions function, with a focus on state power and rule of law, executive and political leadership, legislatures and representation, federal institutions, and new institutions and governance. The course will enable students to understand the historical and institutional dynamics that have structured and transformed Indian politics since Independence.